Hooray for Rheo Blair's Hollywood!

This is a repost of an article I wrote back in 2008. It provides context and background for Rheo's presence in Hollywood and, since there are many new readers of this blog I felt it is time to publish it once more. It is also compliments nicely the post above about Rheo singing with the Lawrence Welk orchestra, above. I hope you enjoy it!

My lovely wife, Lorraine, and I spent
this last weekend in Hollywood. She performed as part of the Pacific
Chorale at the Hollywood Bowl in the Eric Idle (of Monty Python fame)
production of Not the Messiah -- an "oratorio" (spoof of an oratorio,
that is) based on the Python film, The Life of Brian. We stayed at a
hotel just adjacent to Hollywood and Highland, a huge outdoor
shopping/entertainment/restaurant/hotel complex built to resemble a
movie set (more info here).
It was a convenient place to stay, since the Bowl is just a 15 minute
walk up Highland Avenue. "Up" is meant literally, not figuratively,
since Highland slopes up into the Hollywood Hills. FYI, for those of you
unfamiliar with the area, Hollywood is a district of Los Angeles, not a
separate city.

Our tour today begins today with with dinner and the concert; we will
then progress to the Rheo Blair-related pics. Note that I have not yet
learned the correct way to insert photos directly into blog postings
(other than at the top). For now, just click on the hyperlinked text, as
it occurs below, to view the photos in my Picasa album. When you are in
the album, you can also choose to view the entire album as a slide
show. There are captions to each photo; however, there is much more
detail right here on the blog about each photo. Note too, that there are
a few extra photos in the album beyond those which are linked to below.
The album also has a map on which the photos are pinned, so you can see
where they are physically located. Finally, not all of the links below
are photos; some are links to relevant sources of information on the
Web.On Saturday night we joined Lorraine's father (who not only is a good
friend but edits much of what you read here on this blog) for dinner at Trastevere.
We all enjoyed well-balanced meals Rheo surely would have approved of
(with the exception of the carb-intense linguini which I am about to
admit to; Rheo was adamant about his low carb/high protein philosophy).
Since Trastevere is an Italian restaurant, we started by splitting an
order of linguini with tantalizingly kicked-up marinara sauce. I had the
grilled and sliced marinated New York steak topped with fresh herbs, lemon and olive oil sauce served with radicchio and arugola salad. Lorraine enjoyed the Grilled salmon
fillet with a creamy brandy and Dijon mustard sauce served with grilled
Portobello mushroom, eggplant and zucchini. Dad had veal scaloppini
spiked with capers and accompanied by roasted potato cubes.After dinner we walked off the food en route to the Bowl where a great
time was had by all. Here's a few shots from the concert; first, the Bowl shell with the performers on stage (can you find Lorraine, or where's Waldo, for you older folks); second, the fireworks finale; another of the fireworks; and finally, the Bowl shell seen backstage from behind looking through the shell out to the audience.As many of you know, the film The Life of Brian ends with a wierdly
wonderful song, Always Look On the Bright Side of Life sung by Eric Idle
hanging on a cross. Well, Not the Messiah ends with the same song. So
on Sunday, after sleeping in, and still basking in the afterglow of a
truly unique (and wacky) experience the night before, Lorraine and I
pondered what to do. What would be the perfect complement, or foil, to
looking on the bright side of life, so to speak? We ended up at a
cemetery. But remember, this was Hollywood, so it was no ordinary
cemetery. Hollywood Forever Cemetery,
full of dead stars, is adjacent to Paramount Studios and is within a
half mile of Rheo's home. Our interest here, vis-a-vis Rheo, is the
grave of Nelson Eddy, an operatic singer and movie star
whose voice Rheo idolized to a very great extent. Rheo even went so far
as to model his own singing voice after Eddy. Anyone who ever heard
Rheo sing and was familiar with Eddy's voice was amazed at how much Rheo
truly sounded like him. So it's rather interesting, is it not, that
Rheo ended up living just a few blocks from his hero's grave!
Coincidence? There are more photos of the cemetery in the album.The eastern perimeter of the cemetery is on Van Ness Drive just a few
blocks north of the one-time Rheo Blair residence. So, having enjoyed an
unusual couple of hours in this most unusual cemetery, we drove down
the street to Rheo's home and snapped a couple of pictures. It is in the
90004 zip code in an area just adjacent to Windsor Square
and less than half a mile from Paramount Studios, the former KHJ/KCAL 9
TV studios, and, of course, Hollywood Forever Cemetery. It is a large
3500 square foot Cape Cod style home on a corner. In this picture
we see the front steps leading up to the front door. Looking to the
second floor, the window to the far right (and partially cut off in this
photo) was my room during my stay there. The windows directly above the
front door were part of a large second floor landing/common area with a
built-in sitting area against the windows.To the left of the home is a driveway at the top of which is this building,
that served as his local warehouse and personal office. Here Rheo
processed orders, spent hours talking on the phone as he loved to do,
and occasionally mixed custom protein powder forumulas for bodybuilding
clients with special needs and requests. One evening one of his most
famous clients dropped by to pick up supplements, etc. Rheo brought him
in the house so I could meet him. At Rheo's request, he graciously took
off his shirt to reveal the most remarkably developed human being I have
ever seen. I respect this man's privacy, so he shall remain nameless,
but it is a name everyone in the bodybuilding field would instantly
recognize. Finally, around the corner was the spa house.
The physical therapy, available at the spa house, was designed to
increase blood circulation to get Rheo's protein and supplements to
where they needed to be throughout the body! The main residence has been
sold a couple of times in recent years, and currently appears to be a
victim of neglect. It was a stunning property while Rheo lived there.
However the entire neighborhood now appears to be undergoing something
of a renaissance with an explosion of building and remodeling happening.Then we headed back up Van Ness and turned left onto Melrose Avenue. If
the name seems familiar, you are probably thinking of the Television
show Melrose Place. Wikipedia tells us "a short street named Melrose Place exists in Los Angeles as an offshoot of Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood."
However we are several miles east of that location. Back to our tour.
Having turned onto Melrose, we drive just a couple of blocks until, on
our right, we see this sight
which in fact is the main entrance to Paramount Studios. At the left
edge of the photo you will notice a green hedge, which can be seen
clearly in this picture.
The hedge hides a Paramount parking lot. But this spot is historically
significant for having been the location of the famous Nickodell
Restaurant -- which was torn down in 1993 to make way for -- the parking
lot! There are a few interesting tidbits about Nickodell (here).
It was a star hangout, apparently having been made nationally famous by
a mention in I Love Lucy. Indeed, it was where Desi Arnaz interviewed
and hired William Frawley to play the part of Fred Mertz. It remained a
star hangout until its last day. This was Rheo's favorite local
restaurant. He initiated me to the place a few days after my arrival to
live at his home. We both had -- upon his recommendation -- the prime
rib sandwich. Now anyone who knew Rheo knows he didn't eat sandwiches;
however, this was simply an inexpensive version of the prime rib dinner.
Throw away the bread, as we did, and voila, prime rib dinner for half
price! I saw any number of stars in the place including two from Happy
Days -- Erin Moran who played Joannie Cunningham and Pat Morita who
played Arnold. Morita was perhaps better known for his starring role as
Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid. It's a real shame that another great
Hollywood restaurant, I should say institution, is gone.To the left of the hedge in the previous photo can be seen the former home of KHJ/KCAL TV 9. A clear shot can be seen here.
In the early 1980s a morning talk show hosted by Paul Ryan and Meredith
McCrae named "Mid-Morning-LA" originated from this studio. Rheo was a
repeat guest on this program (and I with him on one occasion in the
spring of 1982).From there we continued west on Melrose three blocks to Larchmont and
turned left. Down about a block on the east side of the street is this office building.
Here, Rheo kept his business office, run by his business manager,
Freddy Lindblad. A kindly soul, a loyal hardworking assistant for Rheo,
and like Rheo, a musician, Freddy made Rheo's business run. He was the
person who screened potential clients for Rheo before such people got
anywhere near him. When Rheo made a television appearance, the telephone
number given out to the public was for this Larchmont office. Freddy
handled these incoming calls. It was with Freddy my mother first spoke
after she saw Rheo on television. Freddy, sensing a good potential
client in my mother, got Rheo's OK and passed his personal number to
her. She was then able to phone him directly to make an appointment. The
rest, as they say, is history.We then continued south on Larchmont, crossing Beverly Blvd. to South Larchmont and what is known as Larchmont Village, info here.
There were two shops here in the village pertinent to Rheo Blair.
Quinn's Nutrition carried a variety of his less expensive supplements.
Quinn's sales representative was Dorothy North, mother of Jay North, of
Dennis the Menace fame. Dorothy was a close friend of Rheo, was familiar
with his products, and was able to give advice and guidance about his
products to customers coming into the store. Indeed, Rheo often sent
people directly to her. The other shop -- and I confess to forgetting
the name -- was a high end food market where Rheo purchased his raw
milk, cream, butter and fertile eggs. Both stores are now gone. It is
still a very pleasant little area to visit with a farmer's market
on Sunday and many fine little sidewalk cafes, where one might enjoy a
good meal on a sunny summer afternoon. Lorraine and I did just that on
this Sunday when we took many of the photos you have seen here.That's all of Blair's Hollywood for now. We will continue this tour in
the near future with a few more locations of relevance to Rheo's life
and work.Contact me

Click through the link to read a GREAT collection of articles on issues such as raw milk, fats, soy dangers and others -- all consistent with the philosophy and teachings of Rheo Blair. If he were with us, these are the kinds of articles he would be reading. Educate yourself!